Glen Ellyn soldier 'shadowing' Chicago race from Kabul
The scenery and background for Sunday's Chicago Half Marathon and 5K will be pretty unique. The skyscrapers and modern architecture along Lake Shore Drive will blend nicely with the buildings on the University of Chicago's campus.
When Glen Ellyn native Lt. Col. Jeff Poisson takes off from the starting line, however, his view will be a little different from most. Poisson's view will consist of the mountains surrounding his current location nearly 7,000 miles away in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Poisson will be one of four Chicago-area soldiers to shadow the 5K run from Afghanistan on Friday, two days before the actual race.
In July, he received an e-mail from Air Force Major Dave Burnett, who wanted to assemble a team to shadow the run.
"I've kept up with running while in the Army and enjoy the occasional road race so this sounded like a great idea," said Poisson, 42, in an e-mail interview.
Poisson serves as commander of a six-person embedded training team that mentors an Afghan aviation squadron composed of 242 security force members. A past runner in Glen Ellyn's annual Freedom Four run, Poisson said he looked forward to getting out on the road.
He ran at Hadley Junior High School then ran track and cross country for four years at Glenbard West High School, where he graduated in 1986.
He says he often thinks of Glen Ellyn while stationed overseas.
"It's still home for my wife Debbie and me even though we have spent the last 19 years going where the Army sends us," he said. "I will say, though, Portillo's mail order makes time away from the Chicago area easier."
For Burnett, the team was a chance for soldiers to stay in shape as well as give their lives a bit of a touch of stability.
"We are trying to keep our troops motivated and in shape while here and since our facilities and equipment are minimal, many have taken up running," Burnett said. "Running the Chicago Marathon 5K is a great way for our military members to feel a little more like they are closer to home."
Poisson has been an aviation officer since 1991 and entered the military through an ROTC program with a friend. He is in the fourth month of a 12-month tour of duty in the Afghan capital and twice served in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 101st Airborne Division.
"It's the job of a soldier; it's what I have done and trained to do for nearly 20 years," he said. "I know there is risk and I mitigate the risk all I can for me and my men. But this is war; the toughest kind of war, in fact, counterinsurgency."
When he first left high school, he didn't necessarily expect to be a career soldier.
"As a kid, I always imagined being a fireman, police officer, airline pilot or soldier," he said. "I went to (a flight program at) University of North Dakota with the airline pilot career in mind but discovered helicopters and Army aviation and got hooked."
Poisson said he hopes to perform well in the 5K and has run as much as six miles in Afghanistan during his first few months there, although he admits a part of that is boredom with the run.
As for his work in Afghanistan, Poisson said it is rewarding work because of the skill of the Afghan aviation unit. However, that does not minimize the risk Poisson knows he takes every day.
"The war here in Afghanistan is very real," he said. "Counterinsurgency is one of the most complex and dangerous conflicts to fight. There are a lot of unpleasant memories made here but, in the end, I'm here for the future of Afghanistan and the Afghan friends and comrades I have made."